Mi A3 Fixes Everything That Was Wrong With The Mi A2 & Offers Great Value For Money

HD+ Display Can Be A Deal-BreakerIn-Display Fingerprint Scanner is Slow

MXP EDITOR’S RATING

8

Xioami's Mi A2 was a really good Android One smartphone. Last year when we reviewed the phone, we gave it a good rating for its cameras and the overall user experience. That said, we did point out some shortcomings like the lack of a headphone jack, mediocre battery life, etc.

Well, fast-forward to 2019, we now have the Mi A3, the successor of the last year's Mi A2 and Xiaomi's newest member of the Android One family in India. To my surprise, the Mi A3 has fixed a lot of the issues that most people had with the Mi A2. I have been using the Mi A3 as my primary phone since the past couple of weeks, and I am convinced that it offers great value for money. Here's my full review of the Xiaomi Mi A3 -

Design & Build Quality

I wasn't a huge fan of the Mi A2's design if I am being completely honest. Almost all Xiaomi phones looked more or less the same when it was launched. The Mi A3, however, looks fantastic. As you can see, I have what Xiaomi is calling "More Than White" color variant of the phone with me and it looks absolutely gorgeous.

Unlike most other phones in this price range, the Mi A3 has a glass back. Yes, I agree that they all look more or less the same, but I like holding a phone with a glass back instead of a polycarbonate body. Gives it a premium feeling in my opinion. It's not always about the looks, right? You'll be the one holding the phone at the end of the day. Plus, it's Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on both the front as well as the rear, so I am not too worried about the scratches either.

The glass-sandwich is surrounded by a shiny metal rail, which makes it feel more premium than it actually is. It's crazy to think that a phone that costs as much as the Mi A3 does now has a glass and metal build. "Buy a premium phone for looks!" is such a thing of the past now. Sigh!

The Mi A3 also has a little weight to it. At approx. 174g, it has just enough weight to make it feel like you're holding a premium flagship phone in your hand. Anyway, on the front, there's the display with an in-display fingerprint scanner and a water-drop notch. A few things which I want to point out before moving on is that the speakers are really nice. They get fairly loud and produce crisp audio. Also, the phone has a headphone jack, an IR blaster, dual Hybrid SIM slot and a USB Type C port. I'd say you should buy the phone just for those things!

Jokes aside, I really like what Xiaomi has done with the design and build quality of the Mi A3. It looks exquisite and makes you feel like you're using a super-premium flagship phone that costs upwards of Rs 40,000. It's also comfortable to hold, has tactile buttons and has essentials like the headphone jack. The Mi A3 is not just looker, but it's also an incredibly well-made device.

Display

Xiaomi has decided to drop the Full HD+ display from the Mi A2 and opt for a HD+ panel. Yes, that sounds like a deal-breaker, but I think it's not entirely a bad thing. It's worth pointing out that the FHD+ display on the Mi A2 was an LCD panel, whereas the Mi A3 now has an AMOLED panel. I am not sure about others, but I personally prefer AMOLED over LCD and I think I don't have to explain myself here. There are some obvious advantages like deep blacks, punchy colors, better contrast, and more.

Yes, I do agree that it's "technically" a downgrade on paper, but the advantages of having an AMOLED panel outweighs fewer pixels. I remember downgrading from Samsung Galaxy S8's QHD+ AMOLED panel to iPhone XR's Liquid Retina display, and I can confirm that you'll get used to it in no time. On the brighter side, think about the fact that a lower resolution panel will give you more battery life on the Mi A3. But more on that later.

I know I've said a lot of positive things about the Mi A3's display. However, I'd be lying if I said its in-display scanner is good. Let's just say it's slow. Like, very slow. It's hard to fathom that an in-display scanner can be so slow in 2019. I also found it to be very unreliable, which is why I preferred using a pin code to get in.

Performance & Software

The Xiaomi Mi A3 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC, which is the same processor powering the Realme 5 that was launched yesterday. The base variant of the phone has 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. But you can also buy the variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, which is what I have been using. It's an LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.1 storage, which is standard for a phone in this price range. BTW, you can also expand the storage via a microSD card up to 256GB.

So, how's the day-to-day performance? Well, the Snapdragon 665 isn't a super-powerful processor, but it's good enough for day-to-day usage. Things like using social media apps, browsing the internet, texting, making phone calls, etc. have been a breeze. I haven't experienced any sort of lag or stutters while using the phone, which is a good sign. And since it has a stock version of Android, I expect the performance to stay more or less the same over an extended period of time.

As for gaming, I did play PUBG Mobile on the Mi A3 to see how it performs. The graphics were set to 'low' by default, and I was able to play the game without any issues. Other games like Asphalt 9, Call Of Duty Mobile also worked well.

I've always liked Xiaomi's A series of phones mainly due to the fact that they have stock Android. I am not against a skinned version of Android and prefer stock Android over MIUI. Also, Android One supports faster and reliable updates for a long time, which is always a good thing to have. It's running on Android 9 Pie out of the box, and you can expect it to get Android Q once it starts rolling out officially.

Camera

The Mi A3 sports a triple-camera setup at the back which includes a 48MP primary sensor with f/1.79 aperture, an 8MP wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP depth sensor with f/2.4 aperture. Selfie lovers will appreciate this phone for having a 32MP shooter on the front with AI face unlock.

I know you can get phones with quad-cameras at a lesser price than this, but the Mi A3's cameras aren't shabby. More cameras don't always mean better pictures, right? I'd say the Mi A3 has a good set of cameras that are just about enough to help you take different kinds of pictures. Of course, you're not going to be blown away by the image quality or anything like that.

The images shot during the day time have good details with lots of sharpness. I noticed that it doesn't try to over-saturate the images when you're not using the AI mode. The photos looked very natural to me, which is how I prefer. You can also use HDR to get slightly better-looking images. I found myself using HDR a lot while using this phone, which isn't something that I usually do.

There are a bunch of different modes like portrait, night, panorama, etc. There's also a dedicated 'Pro' mode for those who want to fiddle with the settings. Do make a note that you'll have to enable 48MP mode to take advantage of that 48MP sensor. You can also record videos at up to 4K 30fps, but don't expect smoother footage. It's average at best. Here are some samples that I took during the time I spent with the phone -

Xioami Mi A3 Offers Great Value For Money

Battery Life

The Xiaomi Mi A3 packs a 4,030mAh battery inside, which, on paper, is a lot bigger than the 3,000 mAh battery that the Mi A2 had. Add a comparatively low-resolution display to it and you've got a phone that's going to last a full day on a single charge without giving up on you. In fact, if you're not a heavy hitter like me, then you might even end your days with a lot of juice left.

The Mi A3 also supports fast charging at up to 18W, but you only get a 10W charger inside the box, which is a bummer. But apart from that, I have no complaints with the battery life whatsoever.

The Final Say

The Mi A3 has been launched in India at a starting price of Rs 12,999. Now, you might argue that you can get a Realme 5 for just Rs 9,999. Agreed! However, it's not always just about the processor. The Mi A3 gets a lot of things right to offer a complete package. As I mentioned, it fixes most of the issues that a lot of people faced with the Mi A2.

Despite the shortcomings, the Mi A3 is my favorite Android One phone that's out there. For Rs 12,999, (Rs 15,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant) you're getting a shiny, gorgeous phone that looks much better than most other phones in this price range. Triple cameras, and all the essentials like the headphone jack, USB Type C, etc are also in place. The performance of Snapdragon 665 SoC is not an issue unless you're trying to push it to its limits expecting things that it's not made for. I thoroughly enjoyed using the Mi A3, and I am sure you'll love it too.